Maintain a great work-life balance -It's Wednesday again, the mid-week mark of the grind. In today's Western society, we are constantly bombarded with the "hustle" culture, placing pressure on us to work every single minute of every single day. This is an entirely irrational concept that ingrains guilt when we are not doing work. Life is about living. You can work hard during your office hours, then enjoy yourself and embrace life's moments outside of these hours. Maintaining a steady work-life balance is essential for your mental and physical health, allowing precious time to spend with friends and family.
It is so important we all achieve a good work and play balance. Not doing so can cause fatigue and poor health and damage our relationships, taking a toll on working productively and thinking clearly. The Sarvin team have lined up our tips on how to maintain an improved work-life balance:
Learn to say 'no.'
Assess your priorities at work. What is essential, and what can be completed another day? If your boss assigns you another task, find out when it must be done and explain that it can only be done by that specific date due to your current workload.
Plan, plan and plan
We recommend scheduling your week's tasks, allowing slots for unexpected work that may arise. Planning your work means tasks will be completed more efficiently, and no time will be wasted. Remember to include time for tidying up, your allocated tasks, times of emailing and calling.
Set aside time to relax, ''non-working'' hours. This can be as short as one hour of the day. Just make sure you spend it doing something that makes you feel good such as getting creative or hitting the gym. Your mental health is just as important as your work performance; both go hand-in-hand.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Stay consistent with nourishing your body and exercising. Eating a balanced diet packed with fruit, veg, non-processed meat, and wholegrain carbohydrates is essential. We recommend aiming for six glasses of water a day to help combat fatigue, dehydration and give you that glowing complexion!
Exercise where you can. Go for a walk to get some fresh air or go to the gym if you prefer a challenge. Get moving to feel the positive endorphins that will help you think straight and have more energy. For a calming exercise option, try yoga.
Take your holidays
You have earned your holidays through all the hard graft of the year. Take them when you can. If you don't feel up to a whole week off, perhaps take short staycations or long weekends off for yourself. This is a great way to catch up on sleep or meet with friends and family for a coffee. Cherish these moments to help you appreciate your work more and be more productive within office hours.
Use your break time
As the digital era has taken momentum, we have become embedded with guilt for using our break time as an actual break. Instead, the majority of us sit with our lunch at the desk whilst still working. This is not healthy and will eventually lead to burn out.
It's time for you to cherish your lunch break by sitting somewhere outside or away from the desk and relaxing. Try to remove the work thoughts and chat with a workmate or take in the fresh air. Grabbing lunch from a café and waiting while your food is prepared gives you a break to sit and relax.
Disconnect outside office hours
When you have your weekend carved out, turn off your work phone and resist checking your emails. The weekend is meant to be for a reset and doing what you enjoy.
Having a break from the digital world will reduce distractions allowing you to cherish the downtime more and remove work stress.